TW for Jinx having a whole ass mental breakdown lmao. Also, references to 'don't cry, you're perfect'.
The warehouse has been long since abandoned by its original owners. It looks... weathered, more than anything, the corrugated metal walls rusting and parts of the roof collapsed. Ivy snakes all the way to the ceiling in places, and strangely-coloured weeds grow through the cracks of the concrete flooring. A railing (fallen from the balcony and now sitting on the ground by the entrance) clanks as she walks in and steps on it.
It stinks of decay, a faint stench of shimmer hanging in the air. It is a smell Caitlyn knows very well. She's able to distinguish it even against the undercity fumes, the smog drifting in through the broken windows. It paints the place with a greenish tinge, like a firelight insect.
Their faint chitters echo in the distance. The place is located on the outskirts of the city, so it feels oddly isolated: the normal hustle and bustle of Zaun merely lights on the horizon, the tiniest sound of chatter and business carried on the wind.
Caitlyn really hopes this isn't where Jinx has been living for the past few months. The girl was nowhere in sight, which was a good sign. A bad sign was the various pieces of gadgets and splatters of brightly-coloured paint across the cluttered floor - though it all looked fairly recent: temporary, even.
Something creaks behind her. Instinctively, her hand reaches for her pistol, carefully concealed under her clothes. It was only loaded with one round (which she hoped she wouldn't have to use), just in case. You had to be careful with Jinx.
Cautiously, Caitlyn turns around. The blue-haired girl is stood right behind her, a gun pointed at the back of her head. She lets out a shaky sigh, suppressing the primal fear building the bottom of her stomach with a firm thought of no.
'I'm not here to arrest you. I'm not even an enforcer anymore,' Caitlyn ventures.
'Once a pig, always a pig,' mocks the other girl, trying to sound nonchalant and playful, but there's a crack to her voice betraying her facade. 'If you aren't here to hurt me, what's this?'
There's a soft clunking sound as Jinx taps her nails against Caitlyn's pistol. She tuts exaggeratedly. 'Eugh, I really hoped that Sis would have better taste.'
Okay. Ignoring that, this only works if she knows she can trust me.
Just like Vi.
Slowly and tentatively, Caitlyn removes her gun from its holster and drops it on the floor with a clatter. In return, Jinx lowers her weapon from the other girl's head. See? She won't hurt you. If she really wanted to, you'd already be dead.
Caitlyn sits down and stares firmly and directly forward, in a bid to show Jinx she trusts her. Well, trust is a strong word, she thinks, as the shorter girl traces Caitlyn's skin with the tip of her gun. But, her finger is not on the trigger.
'Vi sent me here. You wanted to talk to her?'
'Yeah, her. Not some piltie sugar mommy she's somehow landed,' Jinx scoffs. Caitlyn flushes red, but knows a response would go unheard. She furrows her brows, lifting her gaze to get a closer look at Jinx's face.
She looks just like Vi. But... withered, almost. Her skin looks like it's been torn and put back together again, almost, graying in places around her luminous eyes. Her face is shallow and gaunt, cheekbones very prominent against her dusty pale skin. It makes Caitlyn's heart wrench. After everything, she's still just a traumatised kid, barely seventeen. And Vi's sister, as well, which made Caitlyn feel just a little bit responsible for her.
But, she was still unpredictable and unstable all the same. The former enforcer is determined not to show weakness in front of her - just yet. But she didn't want to come off as cold and hostile, either, and it really was a depressing sight. Jinx clearly hasn't been looking after herself properly for some time. Possibly since the missile, but she desperately hopes it hasn't been that long.
Deep down, she knows it has.
'Have you been eating?' Caitlyn asks quietly. The other girl recoils, with a sort of growl. She narrows her eyes and bares her teeth. 'Stop acting like you're my mom. You don't know me,' she spits. When she's defensive, her voice gets laced with emotion in almost the exact same way Vi's does. She's just a kid. She's just a troubled kid, she's Vi's troubled kid.
Caitlyn blinks, and lets out a choked sigh. 'Oh, Jinx,' she murmurs, her voice barely a whisper. Jinx looks almost taken aback, and cautiously draws a little bit closer.
'You aren't real,' she says with forced firmness. Before Caitlyn can respond, she continues. 'You can't be real. You're nothing like the real you, I- I've seen it. You just want to hurt us. Don't you, piltie?' At this, she jabs the other girl sharply with her finger. Jinx turns her back, and continues, trying to convince herself more than anything.
'That's all you want. I'm not falling for this, I won't, I'm perfect and I won't cry and I won't fall for this-' but her voice breaks, and tears are already welling up in the corners of her eyes.
There's a moment. Caitlyn looks up at her with these eyes, these sad, pitying, caring gods-damned eyes and it looks just like Vi when she's worried. Everything looks just like Vi and she's there, too, Jinx can feel it. Mylo and Claggor aren't here anymore, it's all just Vi. She's trying to talk to Powder, but Powder's dead, she fell down a well. The world is spinning, and the silence between them is deafening. 'You don't know me,' she yells out over the noise, but Jinx isn't sure whether she actually said it, or - Stop it, please stop it, it's fake it's fake it's fake-
So like she can read minds, Caitlyn stops it, the words bubbling and bursting out one after the other like a stream of conscience. It sounds desperate, almost a last resort.
'I'm not going to lie to you, Jinx, because I know you'd see right through it, so I'll tell you upfront. I have every reason to hate you. You kidnapped me from the damn shower, you're the reason my mother is dead, and the reason Piltover and Zaun are about to have a civil war. But I don't, because it's not really you, is it? There's a lot beneath the surface they can't all see, isn't there, Jinx?'
The silence is back, and so is Mylo (Vi's gone). He watches like it's a show to him, so she shoots him a glare like daggers. The quiet's not crushing like before, and Jinx hates that about it, so she breaks it. 'You don't know anything about me,' she hisses, low and dangerous.
The Kiramman girl does not seem intimidated. She merely laughs sadly. 'You sound just like Vi when you say that.'
~~~~~
Author's note: If I continue this fic beyond here, there probably won't be any more Jinx POV. This is because I don't know how to accurately represent psychosis, so my depiction of Jinx's schizophrenia might end up doing more harm than good.
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You Don't Know Me ~ An Arcane Fanfiction
FanfictionAfter an accident leaves Vi in bedrest, she sends Caitlyn to try and talk to Jinx. Angst and bonding ensue. Things get better. This is definitely comfort fanfiction because the finale left me emotionally wrecked. Cover by me.